Meet the Winners of our 2023 Poetry Competition
Published on 25 September 2023
We had an incredible number of entries for this year's Poetry Competition - a total of 123 entries across all age categories.
Today we proudly announced the winning and shortlisted entries of this celebrated event.
ADULT CATEGORY
Winners
First place: "The Forest(PDF, 188KB)" by Angele Toomey
Second place: "Someday Always(PDF, 51KB)" by Michelle McCulley
Third place: "Nothing lasts forever(PDF, 29KB)" by Devon Johnston
Shortlisted
Special mentions
TEEN CATEGORY
Winners
First place: "Real friends(PDF, 47KB)" by Kathryn Eagle
Second place: "Cherish(PDF, 15KB)" by Jess Frew
Third place: "What is friendship?(PDF, 25KB)" by Aryanna Billington
Shortlisted
Special mention
"Build-A-Bestie.com(PDF, 40KB) by Kathryn Eagle
CHILDREN CATEGORY
Winners
First place: "My best friend(PDF, 14KB)" by Liv Jacobs
Second place: "Friendship(PDF, 39KB)" by Lucy Pattinson
Third place: "Brothers(PDF, 41KB)" by Russell Leenders
Shortlisted
Special mention
"You are a part of me(PDF, 14KB)" by Seanna Amour G. Fernandez
Our panel of judges had the challenging task of selecting the shortlisted poems from a diverse pool of submissions. Each poem was a unique piece of art, offering insights into the hearts and minds of our community members.
As we sit back and think about the outcomes and why this is important to us, two important reasons stand out. The Poetry Competition continues to be a tradition at Upper Hutt Libraries because we want to provide a platform for budding poets in our community to shine. This competition encourages individuals of all ages to unleash their creativity and share their unique perspectives on life through the play of words. The Award Night brings our community closer together, to appreciate the talented wordsmiths amongst us.
Thank you to our returning poets and to everyone in our community who gave poetry a go for the first time. We are looking forward to your entries next year when we return with our 2024 Poetry Competition.
Poetry will always be a powerful medium for human expression, weaving emotions, thoughts, and dreams into words that touch the soul.
"The poetry of the earth is never dead." - John Keats